The present invention generally relates to a recording and/or reproducing apparatus, a portable recording and reproducing apparatus, a data transfer system, a data transfer method, and a data recording and reproducing method.
Various types of consumer audio visual devices are in widespread use, allowing users to personally enjoy music software and video software. For example, users own audio systems by which information is reproduced from disc record media such as a CD (Compact Disc) (trademark) and an MD (MiniDisc) (trademark) for example or record information thereto and portable reproducing devices by which information is reproduced from the above-mentioned disc recording media. These audio systems allow users to reproduce desired CDs and MDs or record desired music pieces for example to MDs, which are recordable, thereby creating users' original discs.
The related-art portable music reproducing devices, for example, portable CD players and portable MD players are intended to reproduce only one type of recording medium; for example, one CD or MD is loaded at time in these portable devices. Generally, one unit of a recording medium is provided as one music album in which plural music pieces (a music collection) are recorded. Therefore, a user may only reproduce one music collection at a time by a single portable player. In other words, if a user wants to reproduce music pieces recorded on plural music collections by a single portable player, the user must change the discs every time such a situation occurs. In the case of stationary audio systems, a disc changer system allows the reproduction of music pieces recorded on plural music collections by automatically changing the discs. However, the portable devices, which inevitably are required to be light in weight and small in size, cannot accommodate such a disc changer system.
With recording/reproducing devices using such recording media that users can record music data as MDs and memory cards based on flash memory, music collections provided by CDs for example can be recorded or users may selectively record desired music pieces. If the storage size of a recording medium is large enough, plural music collections may be recorded on a single recording medium. These recording/reproducing devices, when applied to portable players, allow users to listen to plural music collections only by loading one recording medium in a portable players. However, with these portable players, management is not made on a music collection basis on a recording medium. If the above-mentioned recording/reproducing devices record a collection of 10 pieces of music and another collection of 8 pieces for example on a single recording medium, management is made on the basis that 18 pieces are simply recorded on the recording medium, not on the basis that two collections of 10 pieces and 8 pieces are recorded. Therefore, if users want to reproduce only one of the collections, they cannot specify the desired one for reproduction.